‘When You Loved Me’ by Beatriz Williams is a lovely story of love, family, and history

/ Pamela Kramer

Beatriz Williams’ novels set on Winthrop Island are a perfect combination of fabulous stand-alone reads, as well as part of the Winthrop Island books; they return Williams’ fans to Winthrop Island, where many of her books are set, and bring back the fabulous characters we met in those previous novels. “When You Loved Me,” introduces Lucy Cooper, whose father has lived on the island his whole life. Bud Cooper stayed on the island because he was determined to find the legendary pirate’s treasure that was rumored to be buried somewhere on the property.

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‘The Last Lady B’ by Eloisa James is a delightfully unique romance

/ Pamela Kramer

Romances are romances, right? Not exactly, as Eloisa James proves so beautifully in her latest novel, “The Last Lady B.” It seems the antithesis of romance when Genevieve agrees to marry Lord Burnsby, whom her father describes on the first page as “a nasty old goat with three dead wives.” Her groom is older than her father, but unlike her father, he’s extremely wealthy and willing to offer her sister Rosie a dowry, without which Rosie will not be able to marry a titled gentleman. Because while love is all well and good, without money, love was nothing at that time and in their social class.

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“One Second Away” by Rick Mofina: it grabbed me tightly and refused to let go

/ Pamela Kramer

Rick Mofina’s thriller, “One Second Away,” is a classic mystery/suspense novel, a story of murders, kidnapping, power grabs, and the horror of looking directly into the face of evil and having the evil glare right back at you with menacing intent. The major plot concerns the kidnapping of a nine-year-old boy, his mother’s search for him, and the seemingly impossible task not only of finding him, but also finding the reasons for the kidnap, the persons or organization which planned it, and the reason that that particular boy was the target of the perpetrators.

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‘Off the Record’ by Sara Goodman Confino is a clever and engaging novel

/ Pamela Kramer

One of the joys of reading is starting a book and being hooked from the first page, and with “Off the Record,” author Sara Goodman Confino accomplishes that and more. This enchanting story features Judy Greenberg, who in 1962 has graduated from college with a degree in journalism. Unlike her college peers, Judy is not interested in an MRS. Instead, she is determined to have a career as a journalist — and not one who writes about “women’s issues” like getting stains out of tablecloths or child rearing.

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“The Final Chapter”: Fog, Confusion, Obsession, Puzzles, and Some Murders

/ Pamela Kramer

Regarding author C.B. Everett’s sort-of mystery/suspense novel, “The Final Chapter”: Yes, there is an element of traditional mystery novelization and, as expected, a significant group of surprises in one of the two primary stories comprising this brilliant, puzzling, confusing, two-novels-in-one work of art. And if the preceding sentence already has you a bit confused, hold onto your seat because you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.

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Rob Hart’s “Three Hitmen and a Baby” is a compelling action novel that is every bit as clever as its title

/ Pamela Kramer

“Three Hitmen and a Baby” is author Rob Hart’s third entry in his extremely popular, clever, and unique “Assassins Anonymous” series. And if it sounds like a novel you may want to read, don’t worry if you haven’t read the first two. This one is an effective stand-alone wherein the author explains in detail all the foundations of the organization of ex-criminals, killers all, who comprise the group AA: Assassins Anonymous.

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‘An Ordinary Sort of Evil’ is the 5th in the ‘Rip Through Time’ series by Kelley Armstrong

/ Pamela Kramer

“An Ordinary Sort of Evil” is the fifth book in the very clever “Rip Through Time” series by Kelley Armstrong. It’s as gripping and engaging as the earlier novels. The main character, Mallory Mitchell (Atkinson) is the first person narrator, and that narrative device helps us understand her thoughts as she recognizes the necessity of behaving like a 19th century housemaid-turned-assistant even though she’s really a 21st century police detective. The other main character is Dr. Duncan Gray.

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‘You Can Tell Me’ by Melinda Leigh is a thrilling first in a new series

/ Pamela Kramer

Melinda Leigh’s newest mystery is the first novel in her new thriller series that is set in upstate New York, where many of her series are set. In “You Can Tell Me,” there are some characters from a past series, but if, like me, you haven’t read that series, don’t worry. You won’t feel lost at all. The main character, Olivia Cruz, is a true crime writer, and she’s about to be thrust into the middle of an all-too-true crime.

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The brilliant “Short Circuit” by Wolf Haas will get inside your head as if all your electrical brain waves have been severely damaged

/ Pamela Kramer

Regarding author Wolf Haas’s novel, “Short Circuit”: It’s genre-less. It boasts much suspense, but suspense is by no means its major element. It’s certainly not a murder mystery though there are a couple of murders that play a fairly important role in the plot. It definitely is not a comedy even though I smiled and laughed all the way through it. It would be selling the novel short and missing the whole point if we were to label it a character study even though its two protagonists are wonderful characters. Can we label it anything, then? Yes. It’s a puzzle. And “puzzle” is not a genre. But reading the entire novel will, I suspect, leave you puzzled; and that puzzlement, I am quite sure, was the author’s intent.

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